Staffing cutbacks in the South Australian public sector and their likely effects

摘要

 In 2009, the South Australian government announced it would be cutting public sector employees by 1600 over the next three years. In announcing the cutbacks, the SA Treasurer said that doing so would help restore the State’s fiscal position in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. The Treasurer also suggested that it would target staff cuts on back office administrative staff. The implication here was that this targeting would prevent or at least minimise any impact on actual service delivery to the public.The current paper reports the results of a survey of public sector employees in South Australia. The survey asked respondents about their current work arrangements, their experiences with previous staff cutbacks and expectations about current and impending cuts.